Monday, 30 March 2015

The short run.

Regular short runs are the bread and butter of running. You can do fell races, ultra marathons, track sessions, etc. but just a quick lap around the block on a regular basis keeps everything oiled and in condition ready for the bigger faster stuff. Ian Holmes does it so I should bloody well do it!

I've been suffering a lack of motivation recently relating to running. Perhaps I've been a bit tired, perhaps I'm thinking about work too much, perhaps cycling to work and back every day is enough exercise, perhaps the DIY is presenting sufficient load in the evenings... suffice to say I'm not pounding the paths around my house as frequently as I have been.

I'm still psyched for the long runs and walks leading up to the Fellsman, it's just the short ones I''ve not been keeping up. Having had a lazy weekend with the kids I decided to use the evening's rain and the change in clocks to my advantage and try and reconnect with more day to day running.

The hardest bit about running is putting your shoes on and taking that first step out of the door. I managed and was soon squelching through some mud along a back path and heading up Bury Lane where this little chap was lurking by the fence. Lambs are a great reminder of the yearly arrival of life after the winter of hibernation.

Big ears!

I was't taking it quickly, just running at a steady pace up and down the hills, feeling a bit sluggish. After mile 2 my right piriformis was starting to pull tight. I had been to the see the physio about my left hip last week and it felt a lot looser after Candice had given my buttocks a good elbowing. Should have asked her to loosen up the right one as well.

Suffice to say I finished and was pleasantly surprised to have achieved a few Strava trophies for my troubles.

It strikes me that these shorter runs are just as important as the longer ones. These shorter runs keep the stabilising muscles and joints oiled and ticking over. Probably the reasons for my tight piriformis is the lack of rough terrain running that I incorporate into my regular training. In fact, I've got a real lack of regular running at all recently! This shall not do, so I'm making a promise to myself that I'm going to do three shortish runs a week between now and the Fellsman at the end of April just to keep things in shape. Let's see how this holds up.

On a side note, there have been some small incremental improvements to Strava. Firstly the app now has better access to segment leaderboards which means I don't have to fire up the PC version. Second the ability to attach photos to a ride is good without needing an Instagram account. Good work folks.

I'm pleasantly sleepy after tonight's trot, listening to Gong and doing the internet equivalent of pottering in the shed. Success.